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Hello :-) I found out 2 weeks ago when checking my credit file that I have a CCJ from CEL. I've spoken to the court, and the CCJ was in Aug 2016. It was linked to an old address I left in August 2014. Details on the court report says 15/4/15, a ref number, the debt and damages are now £356.85. I can't find any details of what the alleged incident is or where it took place. I've never received anything from CEL before. CEL are not an easy bunch to contact either to find anything out :-(
I'm going to ask for the judgement to be set-aside on the basis I didn't know about it and therefore didn't have a chance to defend any claim made against me (and I should be able to do that). Reading other threads I think this is ok as the justification for setting aside - would someone be able to confirm that please?
I know I need to add an outline defence to the set-aside application so the judge can see I have a good chance of defending it which is hard to do as I have no details of the alleged incident. I intend to put in my defence statement that CEL do not follow POFA Schedule 4 and therefore have no right hold me liable for any claim purely on the basis I am the registered keeper of a vehicle and unless CEL can prove I was the driver, they have no right to hold me liable or pursue me for a parking claim.
Other examples I've seen cover a few other areas, such as CEL not meeting the required timescales for issuing parking notices, and whether a contract exists in the first place, but conflicting advice on whether these add much too.
My draft statement is as follows: -
I am xxxxxxxxxx and I am the Defendant in this matter.
This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated 13/01/2017 to:
· Set aside the Default Judgement dated August 2016 as it was not properly served at my current address;
· Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee;
· Order for the original claim to be dismissed.
1. Default Judgement
1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant in August 2016. However, this claim form has not been served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Default Judgement until 23 December 2016 when I was doing a routine check on my credit file. I understand that this Claim was served at an OLD ADDRESS (xxxxx). However, I moved to a new address in August 2014. In support of this I can provide confirmation from xxxxx County Council showing my updated details for the purposes of paying Council tax.
1.2. I have also never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant’s claim.
1.3. On the 03/01/2017 I contacted Northampton County Court to find out details of the Default Judgement. The court papers contain no details of the alleged incident and I do not know what the Default Judgement relates to.
1.4. On 03/01/2017 I attempted to contact the Claimant using information given to me by Northampton County Court. I was not able to get through to a member of the Claimant’s staff to discuss, nor have I received a response to my numerous answer phone messages left on the Claimant’s legal department answer-phone. This means as the Defendant, I still do not have any details of the incident the Claimant alleges has taken place, other than the summary of charges now owed, which is shown on the Court papers.
1.5. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The Claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.
1.6. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant’s current address when bringing the claim.
1.7. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I thus believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside.
2. Order dismissing the Claim
2.1. I further believe that the original Claim by the Claimant has no merit and should thus be dismissed. I understand that the Claimant is a Parking Company which seeks to claim for “Parking Charge Notices” which the Claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a motorist.
2.2. If the Claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, and used those details to make a claim for a “Parking Charge Notice’’, I thus dispute the claim in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to come into force.
2.3. If the Claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to a vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the Claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the Claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the Claimant does not include ‘Protection of Freedoms Act 2012’ wording on the Parking Charge Notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the Defendant automatically liable for the alleged incident merely for being the Registered Keeper of a vehicle.
2.4. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that this any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation from the Claimant prior to finding out about the Default Judgement, I submit the Claimant will not have complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the Registered Keeper in any case.
2.5. I further submit that the Claimant’s claim is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following main reasons:
2.5.1. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The Claimant is unlikely to be the landowner of the car park in question, and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the Claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder, and only they would have been able sue for any damages or trespass.
2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.
2.5.3. Claimed charge is an Unenforceable Penalty: I further submit that the Parking Charge that the Claimant claimed, given it is not based on any loss suffered due to the alleged breach, is nothing but an unenforceable penalty.
2.5.4. No contract with the claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the Claimant to the motorist; the fee for parking benefits the landowners, not the Claimant. Therefore, there is no consideration from the motorist to Civil Enforcement Ltd.
2.6. On this basis I believe that the Claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and thus the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.
2.7. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as keeper of the a vehicle, I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the Claimant.
Statement of Truth:
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF ANYONE ON THE FORUM COULD LET ME KNOW IF THIS LOOKS OK AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO GET A SET ASIDE AND SHOW A HOPE OF DEFENDING THIS IF IT COMES TO IT!
I'm going to ask for the judgement to be set-aside on the basis I didn't know about it and therefore didn't have a chance to defend any claim made against me (and I should be able to do that). Reading other threads I think this is ok as the justification for setting aside - would someone be able to confirm that please?
I know I need to add an outline defence to the set-aside application so the judge can see I have a good chance of defending it which is hard to do as I have no details of the alleged incident. I intend to put in my defence statement that CEL do not follow POFA Schedule 4 and therefore have no right hold me liable for any claim purely on the basis I am the registered keeper of a vehicle and unless CEL can prove I was the driver, they have no right to hold me liable or pursue me for a parking claim.
Other examples I've seen cover a few other areas, such as CEL not meeting the required timescales for issuing parking notices, and whether a contract exists in the first place, but conflicting advice on whether these add much too.
My draft statement is as follows: -
I am xxxxxxxxxx and I am the Defendant in this matter.
This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated 13/01/2017 to:
· Set aside the Default Judgement dated August 2016 as it was not properly served at my current address;
· Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee;
· Order for the original claim to be dismissed.
1. Default Judgement
1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant in August 2016. However, this claim form has not been served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Default Judgement until 23 December 2016 when I was doing a routine check on my credit file. I understand that this Claim was served at an OLD ADDRESS (xxxxx). However, I moved to a new address in August 2014. In support of this I can provide confirmation from xxxxx County Council showing my updated details for the purposes of paying Council tax.
1.2. I have also never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant’s claim.
1.3. On the 03/01/2017 I contacted Northampton County Court to find out details of the Default Judgement. The court papers contain no details of the alleged incident and I do not know what the Default Judgement relates to.
1.4. On 03/01/2017 I attempted to contact the Claimant using information given to me by Northampton County Court. I was not able to get through to a member of the Claimant’s staff to discuss, nor have I received a response to my numerous answer phone messages left on the Claimant’s legal department answer-phone. This means as the Defendant, I still do not have any details of the incident the Claimant alleges has taken place, other than the summary of charges now owed, which is shown on the Court papers.
1.5. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The Claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.
1.6. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant’s current address when bringing the claim.
1.7. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I thus believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside.
2. Order dismissing the Claim
2.1. I further believe that the original Claim by the Claimant has no merit and should thus be dismissed. I understand that the Claimant is a Parking Company which seeks to claim for “Parking Charge Notices” which the Claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a motorist.
2.2. If the Claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, and used those details to make a claim for a “Parking Charge Notice’’, I thus dispute the claim in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to come into force.
2.3. If the Claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to a vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the Claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the Claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the Claimant does not include ‘Protection of Freedoms Act 2012’ wording on the Parking Charge Notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the Defendant automatically liable for the alleged incident merely for being the Registered Keeper of a vehicle.
2.4. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that this any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation from the Claimant prior to finding out about the Default Judgement, I submit the Claimant will not have complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the Registered Keeper in any case.
2.5. I further submit that the Claimant’s claim is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following main reasons:
2.5.1. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The Claimant is unlikely to be the landowner of the car park in question, and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the Claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder, and only they would have been able sue for any damages or trespass.
2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.
2.5.3. Claimed charge is an Unenforceable Penalty: I further submit that the Parking Charge that the Claimant claimed, given it is not based on any loss suffered due to the alleged breach, is nothing but an unenforceable penalty.
2.5.4. No contract with the claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the Claimant to the motorist; the fee for parking benefits the landowners, not the Claimant. Therefore, there is no consideration from the motorist to Civil Enforcement Ltd.
2.6. On this basis I believe that the Claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and thus the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.
2.7. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as keeper of the a vehicle, I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the Claimant.
Statement of Truth:
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF ANYONE ON THE FORUM COULD LET ME KNOW IF THIS LOOKS OK AND IS STRONG ENOUGH TO GET A SET ASIDE AND SHOW A HOPE OF DEFENDING THIS IF IT COMES TO IT!
Did you get assistance on your application or did you do it yourself?
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